Former Sunderland station ranked in country’s top 10

A WEARSIDE train station has journeyed its way into the top 10 in the country according to a blog.

Monkwearmouth Station is sixth in English Heritage’s 10 Great English Railway Stations.

Monkwearmouth Station May 1964 old ref number 32-3696''Monkwearmouth Station, designed by John Dobson, one of the best known 19th Century architects, was built in 1848'Wednesday May 13 1964

The station, which is next to the Wearmouth Bridge on the north side of the River Wear and was built in the 1850s, now houses a popular locomotive museum.

The station’s citation read: “A grand, tetrastyle Ionic portico is flanked by wings incorporating Greek Doric columns and Tuscan pilasters; the result is a strikingly handsome classical civic building which resonates dignity and permanence.

“Designed by local architect Thomas Moore in 1848, Monkwearmouth Station now houses a small railway museum.”

London Paddington topped the list, with Newcastle Central placed second while Windsor and Eton Riverside in Berkshire was third.

Carlisle Citadel, in Cumbria, and Huddersfield station, in West Yorkshire, also finished ahead of Monkwearmouth.

Councillor John Kelly, Sunderland City Council’s portfolio holder for culture, said: “Monkwearmouth Station Museum is a Grade II listed building, it is a great museum, and it’s an outstanding piece of our built and shared heritage.

“We can all be very proud the station building has again been recognised as fine architecture and a great example of the Victorian railway-era.

“If anyone hasn’t visited recently, there’s plenty to see in its many period features, its current exhibitions, and for all railway fans there’s the added attraction of a nearly life-size model of Stephenson’s Rocket until the beginning of January.”